162: Neighbor? That's a time bomb.

Chapter 162: Neighbors? They're Time Bombs Chen Mo looked at those eyes.

He suddenly smiled.

His smile was somewhat desolate.

"I'm already in hell."

Chen Mo pointed to his ears.

"And that wailing sound..."

"Just now, it got even louder."

Outside the window.

The heavy rain stopped.

But the night sky didn't clear.

A thick, dark red cloud layer had, at some unknown point, enveloped the entire Jiangcheng.

The electronic screens that had been off suddenly lit up again without warning.

It wasn't the previous blue.

It was a dazzling blood red.

On the screen, a huge countdown timer appeared.

[24:00:00]

"Turn off the lights."

Chen Mo suddenly growled.

Without him needing to say more, Old Lin flicked his chinese two-stringed fiddle bow, accurately hitting the switch on the wall.

Click.

The clinic plunged into darkness.

But this darkness wasn't pure.

The bloody red light from outside the window seeped through the gaps in the rolling shutter door, like sticky blood plasma, flowing onto the floor inside the room.

"What is that sound?"

Su Qingxue gripped the gun, its magazine just loaded, leaning against the wall, her breathing slightly ragged.

She couldn't hear it.

But in Chen Mo's ears, the world had exploded.

The moment that countdown appeared, the Old Street, which had been full of life and noisy chatter, suddenly went silent for a second.

Immediately after, there was a grating electrical current sound.

Zzzzzzz—

It wasn't from a broadcast, but from inside people's skulls.

It was like hundreds of microwaves starting up simultaneously in people's brains.

"It's resonance."

Chen Mo pressed his temples, the veins on his forehead throbbing. The high-frequency noise drilled into his brain like a drill. "That countdown signal is forcibly activating the backup crystal chip in everyone nearby."

"Everyone?" Ninth Master was so scared he dropped his lighter. "You mean Liu Balzi, who sells skewers, and that guy selling fake cigarettes at the alley entrance...?"

"Shh."

Chen Mo held up a finger.

His ears twitched.

Through the thick brick wall, he heard footsteps.

No longer the dragging, drunken, unsteady steps.

But heavy, stiff, and perfectly uniform.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Hundreds of pairs of feet, marching to the same beat, surrounded the clinic.

"It seems Professor Qin's legacy isn't just the backup on that fat man." Old Lin sighed in the darkness, pulling two scalpels from under the counter and tucking them into his sleeves. "This is called the 'Settlement Procedure.' Any uncontrolled individuals will be prioritized for elimination."

"This is called the 'Settlement Procedure.' Any uncontrolled individuals will be prioritized for elimination."

"We are the 'uncontrolled ones,'" Chen Mo added.

Clang!

The rolling shutter door was violently smashed.

The huge metallic impact caused dust to fall from the ceiling.

"Open the door... see a doctor..."

A mechanical, rigid voice came from outside the door.

Ninth Master was startled: "Isn't that Liu Balzi? He used to set up a stall right outside this door, and I don't owe him any barbecue money."

"He's not Liu Balzi anymore."

Chen Mo said coldly, "He's a human camera."

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The impacts grew more frequent.

Not just one person.

It was dozens.

Perhaps even more.

The rolling shutter door began to deform, indenting inwards in the middle, emitting a groaning sound under the strain.

Through the gaps, Chen Mo saw pairs of eyes.

Eerie blue.

Dense, like a pack of wolves in a dark forest.

"We can't let them in." Su Qingxue raised her gun. "There's only one door here; we can't hold it."

"Don't kill anyone."

Chen Mo suddenly pressed her wrist. "They've just been taken over; their minds are still there. Killing them would be indiscriminate slaughter."

Su Qingxue gritted her teeth: "Then what do you suggest? Invite them in for tea?"

"Shoot their legs. Shoot their knees."

Chen Mo pointed to his broken leg. "Just make them cripples."

Creak—Boom!

The rolling shutter door finally gave way, torn down along with its tracks.

Red light instantly flooded the entire clinic.

The crowd outside surged in.

Barbecue vendors, mahjong players, foot masseurs... these lowest-tier residents of the Old Street, now holding kitchen knives, iron rods, or even wrenches, rushed in expressionlessly.

Their movements were stiff, but their strength was astonishing.

"Move!"

Chen Mo roared.

Bang! Bang!

Su Qingxue's gun fired.

Precise bursts.

Liu Balzi, who was at the very front, had a burst of blood bloom on his knee, and he fell to his knees with a thud.

But he didn't cry out.

There wasn't even a trace of pain on his face; he supported himself with his hands and tried to crawl forward.

"This is a zombie siege!"

Ninth Master shrieked, swinging an iron chair and smashing it hard into a woman who was trying to pounce.

The woman was sent flying, knocking over a medicine cabinet.

Colorful medicine bottles shattered all over the floor.

"Fall back! To the back door!"

Old Lin kicked over a burly man, his movements so nimble he didn't seem blind at all.

A cold glint flashed in his hand, and two scalpels precisely severed the large tendons in the man's wrist.

The weapon fell to the ground.

The four fought and retreated, falling back into the clinic's inner room.

Chen Mo was supported by someone, his eyes closed, catching tiny details amidst the noisy fighting.

"Left! Duck!"

He suddenly shouted.

Su Qingxue instinctively ducked her head.

Whoosh!

A sharp meat cleaver flew past her scalp, embedding itself deep into the doorframe.

"Three o'clock, two people!"

Bang bang!

Two shots.

Two pouncing figures fell to the ground.

Chen Mo was like a human radar, providing Su Qingxue with an omniscient perspective amidst the darkness and chaos.

They retreated to the back door.

It was a heavy anti-theft door.

"Locked tight." Ninth Master pushed hard, but it didn't budge. "Where's the key? Old Blind Man, where's the key?"

"Lost it long ago."

Old Lin spread his hands. "I only let customers in through the front; the back door is never opened."

...

Ninth Master wanted to curse.

The crowd had already filled the front hall, surging in like a tireless swarm of ants, stepping over their companions' bodies.

The stench of sweat, blood, and a strange electronic burning smell was suffocating.

"Move aside."

Chen Mo suddenly broke free from Ninth Master's support and hopped on one leg to the door.

He pressed his ear to the cold door panel.

Listening.

The structure of the lock cylinder.

The position of the pins.

The extent of the rust.

He pulled out a piece of wire from his pocket, God knows where he got it.

"What are you doing? Picking the lock?" Ninth Master stomped his foot in urgency. "This is an anti-theft door! It'll take at least ten minutes..."

Click.

A soft sound.

The door opened.

"Go!"

Chen Mo pushed the door open.

Outside was a narrow alley, rainwater after the storm reached their ankles.

The four rushed into the rainy night in disarray.

Behind them, sounds of smashing came from the clinic, along with the disappointed roars of the puppets.

"The car! The car is still out front!" Ninth Master slapped his thigh.

"No car."

Chen Mo leaned against the wall, panting heavily, the pain from his broken leg making him break out in a cold sweat. "Too big a target. And... that sound hasn't stopped."

He pointed to the sky.

The huge red countdown was still ticking.

[23:55:12]

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